Paris Fashion Week Review: Hermès

Leather and outerwear at the Tuileries.

The sun was shining in Paris yesterday and it was quite a postcard moment in the Tuileries: children with dripping gelato in waffle-cones, couples holding hands, women sunning themselves in the chairs, and the sound of gravel crunching underfoot. A charming picture until the fashion crowd descended, teetering along in stilettos. With them, a swarm of photographers appeared out of nowhere and anyone wearing a colour or a bold accessory was pursued like a baby gazelle in the Serengeti.

Gone is any sort of etiquette whereby a photographer asks if they can take a photo. It's as if they think, because you had fun getting dressed that day, that your vying to be the next H&M collaborator. I think there should be an entrance for people who want their photo taken and an entrance for those of who want to be able to walk from A to B without worrying if they will fall over or if they have lipstick on their teeth.

Hermès certainly draws a crowd but respectfully tends to shy away from any kind of circus: the collection Christophe Lemaire presented yesterday was understated and chic. A focus on the female traveller is always is their sights and this time she's wearing easy printed silk separates and classic suiting. Of course leather was a feature, in the details as well as full looks, as was outwear — there were trenches, cropped bomber jackets, blazers and a parker. All in all quite a casual look for the luxury jetsetter.